Improvement in combined veterinary instruments



'A. v RUEFF.

Combined Veteri nary Instruments.

'NQ 154,1'93, Patented Aug. 18,1874.

mi GRAPHIC CO.PHOTD-LITH. 39!;44 PARK FLACLNX.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADOLPH V. RUEFF, OF STUTTGART, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO KARL HEIN- RICH KIIHNLE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN COMBINED VETERINARY INSTRUMENTS.

Specification forinin g part of Letters Patent No. 154,193, dated August 18, 1874; application riled July 25, 1874.

To all whomt't inaytoficem V 1 Be it known that I, Dr. ADO'LPH V. RUEFF, of Stuttgart, in the Empire of Germany, have invented new and Improved Veterinary Tongs, of which the following is a specification:

Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views of my improved veterinary tongs, showing the same, respectively, in the form of a drenching-bit and mouth-brace. Fig. 3 is a side view of the tongs proper; Fig. 4, a perspective view of the same, showing it converted into a drenching-bit; and Fig. 5, a detail side view of a syringe, which can be made from my improved tongs. n

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

The object of this invention is to produce an instrument for veterinary purposes which is capable of being converted into all those appliances that are most frequently required in the cure of sick animals. Especially in armies in the field will such a tool be of great utility, as it will make the conveyance of four or five bulky separate instruments unnecessary.

The bulky tools most frequently required in veterinary practice are the following: A hooftongs for testing the soundness of the hoofs in cases of lameness; a syringe; a mouthbrace for holding open the animals mouth, permitting its inspection and the introduction of the hand into the throat; a drenching-bit for facilitating the application of liquid medicine, and insuring its passage into the stomach. All these devices are combined by me in one instrument, which, in its most compact form, constitutes the veterinary tongs, but which can be converted into a mouth-brace and into a drenching-bit, while a syringe can be readily formed from two of its parts.

My invention consists, principally, in so shaping the jaws and handles of the tongs that the same may, if required, form the cheek-pieces of the mouth-brace and drenching-bit; secondly, in the application of tubes around the handles of the tongs, said tubes constituting the cross-pieces of the mouth-brace and drenching-bit, one of them even the supply-tube for the drench and the shank of the syringe; and,

thirdly, in combining with such tongs a rubber tube, terminating at one end in a funnel for supplying the medicine to the drenchingbit or to the syringe.

In the accompanying drawing, the letters A and B represent the two jaws of the tongs connected, respectively, to the two handles 0 and D, and pivoted together by a screw, a, which projects from the shank of the jaw A through a hole in the shank of the jaw B. A nut, 11, is applied to the end of the screw afor holding the jaws together. For purposes hereinafter more fully pointed out, a tube, d, is

slipped on the handle 0, and a tube, 0, is

slipped on the handle D. A spare nut, f, is screwed upon the lower end of the tube d to be retained. The upper ends of the tubes d e are made with internal screw-threads that match threaded portions of the tong-handles, so that thus the tubes may be kept in place on the tongs. The ends of the jaws A B are grooved or shaped in such manner that they will serve the purpose of taking hold of and testing the soundness of the hoof. This is the construction of the tongs.

When it is desired to convert the tongs into a mouth-brace or jaw-opener, the tubes (1 e are unscrewed from the "handles," an d the jaws are also taken apart by theremoval of the nut 1). One end of the tube 0 is then screwed upon the pin a and the other end passed" through the corfsponding aperture of the jaws B, into which it is also screwed, so that thus tlie tube 0 servesas'a'brace for holding the jawsA and their. handles therequisitedistance I apart, but retainingthem parallel to "each other. The tube d, which is transversely perforated near its ends, is next slipped over the ends of the handles 0 D, and retained in place by the nuts b and f, which are sei'ewed upon its ends to bear against the handles. The tube (1 can be adjusted at a suitable distance from the tube 0, according to the size of opening it is desired to obtain. I prefer to notch the handles G D, as indicated in Fig. 4, for the better holding the tube din the required place and preventing it from slipping.

Fig. 2 clearly shows how the instrument is to be applied when used has a jaw-opener or mouth-brace. The handles'O D constitute the side 'or cheek pieces, and the tubes d e the top and bottom cross-pieces of the brace. A veterinary surgeon can, by the aid of this brace, safely introduce his hand and arm in the animals mouth, and perform in the same,'or' in the throat, any suitable operation.

Fig. 4 shows that the parts of the instrument are left in substantially the same position when the instrument is to be used as a drenching-bit, except, perhaps, that the tube (2 is brought somewhat nearer the ends of the the open end of the tube 6. It should be observed thatjthe tube 0 has a central aperture at 0*; also, that the jaws Aand B are slotted,

as is clearly shown in Fig. 3.

The drenching-bit is applied in the manner shown in Fig. 1, the tube e constituting the mouth-piece, the jaws and handles the cheekpieces, of the bit, while the tube d becomes a convenient handle for the operator. The side straps of a bridle, F, are drawn through the slots of the jaws A B to hold the bit in'place. When, now, the horses head is somewhat elevated, either by the hand applied to the han-' dle d, or by a rope extending upward from said handle, medicine can be poured into the funnel g, and is conveyed through thetubes E and e, and. through the aperture 0*, into the animals throat. The animal 1 is thus forced to swallow the medicine and cannot expel it.

For making a syringe, the tube E need only, as in Fig. 5, be slipped over the end of the tube 0, the latter being introduced in the rectum, care being takcn that the aperture (3* is on top.

I claim as my invention 1. The jaws A B of the veterinary tongs, slotted toward the ends, to be applicable as cheek-pieces for a drenching-bit, substantially as specified. v

2. The combination of the tubes (1 c with the handles of veterinary tongs, said tubes being adapted to constitute cross pieces for the mouth-brace and drenching-bit, into which the tongs may be convertedf as set'forth. 3.. The rubber supply-tube E, carrying the funnel g, and combined with the tube 0, and with the handles 0 D of veterinary tongs, as and for the purpose specified.

4. A combined veterinary tongs, mouthbrace, and drenching-bit, constructed substantially as specified.

The above description of my invention signed by me this 2d day of July, 1874.

DE. A. V. RUEFF.

Witnesses:

FERDINAND BENEDICT, FRED. Srorz. 

